Burghley-bound Adams is positive

IT HAS been far from plain sailing for James Adams towards the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials but the Whinney Hill rider insists his confidence remains as high as ever.

To date Adams’ Burghley CV doesn’t make for pretty reading, his one and only appearance at the four-star event back in 2012 ended in elimination.

That came aboard Pricewise but things are even worse this time around with that ride unable to even compete at Burghley in September as he recovers from injury.

Pricewise is not alone in missing out on Burghley with a number of Adams’ four-star horses unavailable and 2014 so far being a season of transition for the 37-year-old.

However, Adams is staying positive and he is convinced that as the door slams shut on his more experienced horses, others open for younger generation to make an impression.

“It’s been a bit of a mixed season for me really because I’ve lost some really good horses,” he said. “I’ve started with some new ones this year so it’s a bit of a learning process for them.

“I lost my four-star horse Pricewise to injury so that was disappointing but it’s just one of those things. We lost another horse and obviously Pricewise was injured and we sold another so there have been a lot of changes.

“But I’ve got some really good threestar horses and we are working to bring them on now. We hope they are all going to be ready for the event and we can use this as a way to learn and build.

“You just hope it goes the way you want it to go and you don’t end up flat on your face. That happened to me in 2012 and I’d ridden almost perfectly up until the third fence from the end and then we went splat and fell.

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“But that’s the sport and it is all part of it but we are hoping that we can have a good show.”

While the immediate future might be somewhat uncertain for Adams, things look much rosier further down the pipeline for the Stockton-based rider and ride Lawly in particular.

Lawly is unlikely to be ready for Burghley, which forms part of the Grand Slam of Eventing, this year but Adams is adamant it is a case of when and not if.

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“The good thing is that they are not totally new horses because we have bred them,” he added. “They are doing really well and we have one who we are excited about and we think will be a top class horse.

“He’s called Lawly and he comes from a prolific stallion and is well bred for eventing. And then there is his younger sibling and we are preparing them for the future now.”

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